The victory represents the second of the season for the Bears (2-3-1-0) and snaps a three-game losing skid for the AHL's longest running franchise. The hosts lit the lamp in all three periods, while Albany never found an answer for Holtby.

"The difference maker, for sure," Bears head coach Mark French said of his goalie. "I thought he was excellent throughout, but probably more importantly, he was good early and that allowed us to get our footing in the game. I think we needed a strong performance, especially early, to build some confidence. We needed one of our top players to step up, and he performed admirably tonight."

Hershey's starting backstop had been sidelined with a undisclosed upper-body injury since starting in a season-opening 4-3 setback to Rochester two weeks ago.

"I felt comfortable for most of the game. I got a couple lucky bounces in the first, which always help momentum," Holtby said. "I was just trying to stay back, hold my ground as much as I can today. After a long layoff, the biggest thing you usually do wrong is get too ahead of yourself and get too aggressive.

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I just told myself to hold back all game, and it worked out."

Hamill opened the scoring by burying Ryan Stoa's centering feed from behind the net with 2:50 left in the first period. Defenseman Kundratek also picked up his first helper of the night on the sequence.

Hamill's goal, his first wearing chocolate and white, floated over the right shoulder of Devil keeper Keith Kinkaid for a 1-0 edge.

The hosts nearly doubled their lead on a power play late in the first, but Kinkaid stoned a Jon DiSalvatore-to-Stoa scoring chance to keep it a one-goal deficit. Meanwhile, Holtby was just as sharp on the other end, blocking all seven shots he faced in the first 20 minutes.

"We've got to get out of the gate a little bit better. Fortunately, tonight it didn't hurt us, but we got to better in that area," added French.

In the second period, Albany (2-3-0-0) continued to display tremendous team speed, generating a pair of early opportunities. David Wohlberg had the best look at 15:02 when Philip DeSimone set him up for a point-blank blast on Holtby, who made a pad save before denying DeSimone on the rebound.

After the whistle, Wohlberg picked up a roughing penalty following a scrum in the crease. The Bears, called for just two penalties in the game, needed just 26 seconds to take advantage, extending the lead to 2-0 on a point-blank one-timer by Taffe from the right dot.

Initially, officials waived off Taffe's goal when the puck caromed out of the back of the net. But a video-goal review, the second in as many games at Giant Center, reversed the on-ice decision after a four-minute delay. Garrett Stafford, along with Kundratek, assisted on the power-play goal at 5:28.

The rest of the second period belonged to Holtby, making his 2012-13 home debut. He stopped16 shots in the stanza, including a Jacob Josefson breakaway and Bobby Butler backhand.

"He's been awesome," said Hamill. "The last couple days at a practice you could tell he's been on his game and he's ready to go. He's hard to score on (at practice) and it showed in the game. He's definitely good to have back there when there are breakdowns; I can't say enough about the guy."

Albany took a 23-16 edge in shots on goal into the third. The visitors did not let up, either.

The Devils' shooting spree only intensified as the game progressed, as Albany's advantage increased to 31-21 with five minutes to go in regulation. Still, Holtby stayed cool, calm and collective between the pipes.

"It's huge," Holtby said of the first home victory. "From what I saw, we played a very structural game. We worked on a few things in practice and throughout the weekend and video this morning, and executed those things very well."

His counterpart, Kinkaid saved 19-of-21 chances. Kundratek added an end-to-end empty-netter with 2:07 left to conclude the scoring. He now trails Taffe for the club lead in points, 8-7, with his seven being two goals and five assists.

The Bears improved to 15-3-1 all-time against the Devils, which includes their stint in Lowell. Hershey also killed off both its penalties and has stymied nine straight.

Hershey returns to Giant Center ice today at 5 p.m. against in-state rival Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. The Baby Penguins ended the Bears' season last year in the first round of the Calder Cup playoffs.

Notes: Matt Clackson, Ryan Potulny, Mattias Sjogren, Julien Brouillette and Jonathon Kalinski were scratched for the Bears. ... Prior to Saturday's game, the Bears reassigned goaltender Phillip Grubauer to the ECHL's Reading Royals and recalled forward T.J. Syner. Grubauer stopped 24-of-26 shots in his AHL debut last Sunday in a 2-1 overtime loss to Binghamton. Subsequently, Grubauer was immediately recalled back to Hershey late Saturday night. ... A moment of silence was observed for longtime season ticket holder Mary L. Keeny (1934-2012) before the puck drop.

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